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Syria Revolution Digest – Sunday 5 August 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

The Ever-Thickening Plot!

 

With all the focus on Aleppo, the real story is still unfolding in Damascus City and Suburbs, as the daily death toll and the military operations which continue to spread to more and more neighborhoods clearly show.

 

Sunday August 5, 2012

 

Today’s Death toll: 139 (Saturday) 125 (Sunday). The Breakdown: the toll includes 6 women and 9 children. 59 killed in Damascus and Suburbs (including 20 in a massacre in Irbeen), 25 in Aleppo, 14 in Idlib, 11 in Daraa, 5 in Homs, 5 in Deir Ezzor and 5 in Hama.

 

Cities & Towns Under Shelling: Harasta, Arbeen, Moadamiah, Harran Al-Awameed, Deir Al-Asafeer, Ain Terma, Zabadani, Madaya, Eltal, Dmeir, Hameh, Yelda, Rankous, Qarrah (Damascus Suburbs), Sit Zeinab, Al-Qadam, Midan, Tadamon, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Yarmouk, Kafar Sousseh, Mazzeh, Qaboun, Barzeh, Salhiyeh, Ruknaddine, Dafelshawk (Damascus City), Daraa City, Khirbet Al-Ghazaleh, Tafas, Bostra Al-Sham, Na’eemah, Mseifrah, Jimreen, Hraak (Daraa), Rastan, Talbisseh, Houla, Tal Kalakh, Al-Qusayr, Al-Hosn, Al-Ghanto, Al-Bouaydah, Old Homs (Homs Province), Hreitan, Elbab, Eizaz, Marei, Bayanoun (Aleppo Province), Haffeh, Jabal Al-Akrad (Lattakia), Deir Ezzor City, Mouhassan, Albou Kamal (Deir Ezzor Province), Kafar Zeiteh, Hawash, Shahshabo, Hama City (Hama Province), Jabal Al-Zawiyeh, Ma’rrat Al-Nouman, Saraqib, Maar Shoureen, Ariha, Kafroumah, Al-Rami, Khan Shaikhoon (Idlib).

 

Newsflashes: *** Syria first and only cosmonaut, Major General Muhammad Faris, defects and crosses the border into Turkey http://youtu.be/jAEKtby9YmkGen. Faris has lived in Aleppo City. He went as Research Cosmonaut on Soyuz TM-3 to the Mir space station in July 1987 *** Reports by The Daily Telegraph that the Muslim Brotherhood is forming and arming its own militias inside Syria have been confirmed by spokesman for the Brotherhood, Molham Aldroubi, in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat (Arabic). Activists on the ground have making similar claims for months saying that Brotherhood members and supporters have been stockpiling weapons, saying they are meant for use to maintain order after the fall of the Assad regime.

 

News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muslim Brotherhood establishes militia inside Syria The Muslim Brotherhood has established its own militia inside Syria as the country’s rebels fracture between radical Islamists and their rivals, commanders and gun-runners have told The Daily Telegraph.

 

Syria looks bleak, admits William Hague William Hague has described the situation in Syria as ‘bleak’ and said that a peaceful solution to the 17 month-long crisis is now unlikely.

 

Iranian pilgrims kidnapped on trip to Syria Dozens are seized by gunmen in the Damascus area, prompting Iran’s foreign minister to ask Turkey to intervene. Meanwhile, fighting continues in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

 

Syrian leader Assad’s planes pound vital prize of Aleppo President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used artillery, planes and a helicopter gunship to pound rebel positions in Syria’s biggest city, witnesses said, in a battle that could determine the outcome of the 17-month uprising.

 

Equestrian: Syrian rider says Olympic effort for “all Syrians” His father Mohamed Hamcho was added to the European Union sanctions list in March and the U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list a month later.

 

Rebels fill Aleppo power vacuum, some disapprove …those found guilty of killing civilians or rebel fighters will be sent to “courts” in Azaz to be judged by the top commander of the Amr bin al-Aas brigade, identified only as Ahmed. “We use Sharia (Islamic law) to judge our prisoners,” Ahmed says in Azaz. “We use a number of judges who are have studied Islamic law and a number of witnesses and judge them accordingly.”

 

Photojournalists captured by Islamist militants in Syria feared beheadingJohn Cantlie and Jeroen Oerlemans faced constant death threats and were shot while trying to escape.

 

Turkey training rebels, says FSA fighter There is a special training programme based in Turkey at secret camps run by the Turkish military, she says. “The Turkish people are really helping us. Lots of people are getting training in those camps.” “The training is really professional. You can only sleep four hours a day. “You have to climb mountains, you get weapons training. It’s hard work.”

 

Dozens reported killed in Damascus as Syria rebels try to halt advance on Aleppo Free Syrian Army fighters told CNN that two large columns of government troops were heading toward Aleppo, the Middle East nation’s most populous city. One is moving from Latakia on the Mediterranean coast and the other from Damascus.

 

Op-Eds & Special Reports

 

 

State Department and Pentagon Plan for Post-Assad Syria The administration’s efforts have been driven by a bleak prognosis shared by most officials: Mr. Assad’s fall would be likely to set off a grave, potentially violent and unpredictable implosion in a country strained by even more tribal, ethnic and sectarian divisions than Iraq, possibly in the midst of a presidential election campaign at home.

 

Turkish bloggers divided over policy on Syria Secular and nationalist critics accuse the government of openly supporting the Syrian opposition, risking a regional war, a new rift between Sunni and Shiite sects and opening the way for the creation of Islamist and Kurdish states in Turkey’s neighborhood. The AK Party government, on the other hand, blames the opposition for supporting the atrocities of the Assad regime.

 

As Syria War Roils, Unrest Among Sects Hits Turkey As Syria’s civil war degenerates into a bloody sectarian showdown between the government’s Alawite-dominated troops and the Sunni Muslim majority, tensions are increasing across the border between Turkey’s Alawite minority and the Sunni Muslim majority here.

 

Victory closer, divisions deepen in Syria opposition “Several opposition groups have adopted an increasingly fundamentalist discourse and demeanour, a trajectory that mirrors the conflict’s gradually deadlier and more confessional turn (and) popular loss of faith in the West,” the International Crisis Group said in a report.

 

Russian rubles for Damascus? Like China, Russia wants to lessen the influence in the region of the West and its allies such as Saudi Arabia. That’s why Moscow not only supports Syria, it also cooperates with Iran, Syria’s closest ally. Russia quite obviously doesn’t have a problem with the human rights violations perpetrated by the Assad regime, so it seems plausible that Russian rubles will continue to flow to Damascus.

 

Robert Fisk: Syria’s ancient treasures pulverised So the looting and destruction lies at the door of all sides in the Syrian conflict, along with the thieves who move in on all historic sites when the security of the state evaporates. In truth, Syria has always suffered – and the regime always tolerated – a limited amount of theft from historical sites, to boost the economy in the poor areas in the north of the country and to enrich the regime’s own mafiosi. But what is happening now is on an epic and terrifying scale.

 

 

The likelihood of a prolonged stalemate, however, does not mean that we should cease thinking about possible outcomes in a post-Assad Syria. And it is important for policy makers in Washington and in other capitals to divest themselves of what might be called the “Bosnia fallacy.”

 

As Yugoslavia was imploding, the Bosnia fallacy was the belief that the various ethnic and sectarian groups in Bosnia still would give their first loyalty to an amorphous idea of “Bosnia” and would trust “national” institutions to represent them and protect their interests. …

 

Some believe that in the event of Assad’s death (or a significant weakening of his power), different groups in Syria might reach out to the opposition to discuss a transition of power. One easily could envision a future meeting in Istanbul that would lay the groundwork for replacing the current Syrian Republic with a Syrian Union, based on resurrecting some of the entities that existed during the first part of the French mandate (1920–1936), including separate Alawite and Druze states as well as regional cantons based on Aleppo and Damascus.

 

Saudi Arabia helped broker an end to the devastating civil war in Lebanon with the Taif Accords in 1989; in principle, a similar agreement, which would recognize Sunni ascendancy in Syria but institutionalize a series of protections for other groups, could be viable and in line with stated Saudi interests and concerns.

 

A Lisbon-style agreement such as the initial plan for Bosnia might not satisfy the Sunni majority—which might hope to exercise control over all of Syria based simply on sheer numbers—and minorities might have to accept smaller cantons and less influence in a post-Assad Syria. But given that similar results emerged in places such as Bosnia and Iraq only after years of fighting, might not Syrians themselves be willing to accept such compromises, albeit reluctantly?

 

The success of any such agreement also would require the outside powers—including the West, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States—to support such a process. If a deal can be facilitated along these lines—however imperfect it may be—then it may be possible to minimize the problems that inevitably will arise in a post-Assad Syria.

 

 

We are hopeful the rebels will ultimately prevail, but it remains a deeply unfair and brutal fight, and the speed and manner by which it is won matter enormously. All evidence suggests that, rather than peacefully surrendering power, Assad and his allies will fight to the bitter end, tearing apart the country in the process. America’s disengagement from this conflict carries growing costs — for the Syrian people and for U.S. interests…

 

The U.S. reluctance to intervene in Syria is, first of all, allowing this conflict to be longer and bloodier, a radicalizing dynamic. Contrary to critics who argue that a greater U.S. role in Syria could empower al-Qaeda, it is the lack of strong U.S. assistance to responsible fighters inside the country that is ceding the field to extremists there…

 

First, we can and should directly and openly provide robust assistance to the armed opposition, including weapons, intelligence and training. Whatever the risks of our doing so, they are far outweighed by the risks of continuing to sit on our hands, hoping for the best. American help should go to those groups that reject extremism and sectarianism in both word and deed. As in Libya, the relationships we build with armed groups inside Syria now will be indispensable going forward.

 

Second, since the rebels have increasingly established de facto safe zones in parts of Syria, the United States should work with our allies to reinforce those areas, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested last week. This would not require any U.S. troops on the ground but could involve limited use of our airpower and other unique U.S. assets.

 

Video Highlights

 

The Battle for Damascus continues despite regime’s claims of “victory.” Now, parts of Damascus City are being shelled at night from positions on top of MountQasayoun http://youtu.be/t97sWAEQc60 On Saturday, nighttime shelling touched the neighborhoods of Salhiyeh (where the tomb of medieval Sufi master Ibn Arabi is located) and Ruknaddine http://youtu.be/CLlAhr1mKbg ,http://youtu.be/Mt9FSETTU2g

 

Pro-Assad militias stormed the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk in Damascus City and carried out a number of Summary executions http://youtu.be/CoJw_kLkC4U ,http://youtu.be/9e_bv2hrkqo In nearby Tadamon, locals keep finding bodies in the streets http://youtu.be/fSkbR-2gXjc , http://youtu.be/n9YIHKDkX8Y ,http://youtu.be/0lSllhyzlu0 , http://youtu.be/njzfuUVNLfE Most are obviously the victims of summary executions http://youtu.be/GujCHFd64h8

 

And suburbs around Damascus are under constant pounding: Artouzhttp://youtu.be/w7kwYJ2ckFE Deir Al-Asafeer http://youtu.be/cY2m2Gcf0qMKafar Batna http://youtu.be/hjp0xoIO-zc , http://youtu.be/iibnM94Ek0wHamouriyeh http://youtu.be/kf9Ov2vHoMg

 

Helicopter gunships continue to be deployed: Deir Al-Asafeerhttp://youtu.be/M5SLd1gC7iY

 

Al-Tawhid Brigade in Aleppo succeeds in destroying a fighter jet as it was landing in Aleppo’s Airport. But we only see thick black smoke rising up in the background http://youtu.be/2QpDuQaub3s Local activists report that in addition to MiGs, the regime is also using Czech made L-39 fighter jets. The make of the fighter jets notwithstanding, they are still being deployed in the fight against rebels in neighborhoods around the city http://youtu.be/e2qAiVCbQh4 ,http://youtu.be/eY3mjVUx-hQ

 

Meanwhile, back in Aleppo City, Assad’s fighter jets targeted areas near the ancient citadel http://youtu.be/egdEUMm2CiM Clashes took place in different parts including: Hanano http://youtu.be/UqKPPlQEnms ,http://youtu.be/QMGUaK98l28 Shaar http://youtu.be/er-NndilDmU ,http://youtu.be/369wkLwCM3s , http://youtu.be/BV4Qk3Lzy3w Buildings catch fire http://youtu.be/18M1uQNG0tY Sukkari http://youtu.be/STHrDdAekxs Bab El-Hadid http://youtu.be/ip-GxscqWRY

 

The neighborhood of Salaheddine gets pounded as wellhttp://youtu.be/URuv7xWiIZs , http://youtu.be/BqL4ayUIlZk Members of the FSA patrol the neighborhood http://youtu.be/GrVHXs1eqYE ,http://youtu.be/KLTTTK07zJM Elsewhere in the neighborhood, other rebel fighters raid a supply center for the local security forces and mange to get some much needed supplies http://youtu.be/GrVHXs1eqYE Rebel reinforcements arrivehttp://youtu.be/NYvxfKaebSg , http://youtu.be/kMldbkfQFJI Clashes ensuehttp://youtu.be/U4oYSXtLVsc A report from the first line of battlehttp://youtu.be/lmIgF1Dzgio When needed rebels become firefightershttp://youtu.be/Q0Bt_4z24Y4

 

An eight-minute drive through the neighborhood of Bab El-Hadid, Aleppo Cityhttp://youtu.be/lnjvJ5bDsCw  An FSA convoy drives throughhttp://youtu.be/oiznlM8zKYs

 

Brigadier General, Mustafa Al-Shaikh, head of the High Military Council, pays a visit to the liberated town of Dar Azzah http://youtu.be/gWBHC55PHhE Earlier, Brig. Gen. Al-Shaikh, paid a visit to the town of Taftanaz, Idlib province, deeper into Syrian territory http://youtu.be/hi4RFp0ilGA

 

An FSA unit based in the Province of Qunaitra managed to arrest the local security chief, General Hussam Haidar. Here, one of their members conducted an interview with him, I which the General says that he hasn’t done anything wrong, and that he was unable to defect on account of his bad health. He then, encourages his family members to refrain from doing wronghttp://youtu.be/Bsbp2jBcpis

 

In Homs City, parts of Baba Amr Neighborhood catch fire on account of the constant shelling http://youtu.be/YlPmYNo8JB0 In Khaldiyeh, local activists find 6 unidentified bodies in the nearby fields, obviously the victims of summary executions http://youtu.be/WxvN7RF_E3U And the pounding continueshttp://youtu.be/rSZBXaDAGbY

 

The pounding of the nearby town of Talbisseh continueshttp://youtu.be/1dM00D61ohg And Rastan http://youtu.be/c5L2GmnoE9Y ,http://youtu.be/wn7mckWHU-A , http://youtu.be/iQg5intEL90

 

In Lattakia, tanks taking part in the indiscriminate pounding of Al-Akrad Mountain http://youtu.be/KW6L5dbQ-tY , http://youtu.be/0jdrjP0A490

 

The siege and pounding of Deir Ezzor City continueshttp://youtu.be/gWfW8wR33KQ

 

In Hama Province, the pounding of the village of Zor Al-Heesahhttp://youtu.be/Xq__MxPgIr4 leaves many dead http://youtu.be/kCuyTfYgvpw In Hama City, clashes took place in Hadir http://youtu.be/pJ0_ulZmGYo Qoussourhttp://youtu.be/atW5YfHuDYw Hamidiyeh http://youtu.be/IapCryjx83I

 

The heavy pounding of the town of Marribeh, Daraa Province, continueshttp://youtu.be/DVEqli0n_R0

 

Argentine War Cemetery Vandalized in Falklands

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Last Wednesday night, August 1, 2012, the Argentinian foreign ministry sent a letter to the British government repudiating the desecration and vandalism of Argentina’s Falklands war cemetery. The cemetery was found vandalized a few days before and is the final resting place of 649 Argentine soldiers and also holds a glass case protecting Argentina’s patron said, the Virgin Mary. The glass case was found smashed.

A Statue of the Virgin Mary Stands Behind the Shattered Glass of the Vandalism. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian)

The cemetery marks the memory of a war over possession of the islands that claimed the lives of over 600 Argentinians, 255 British soldiers, and three elderly islanders. While Argentina lost the war, the country has not given up its claim to the territory and has accused the British of ignoring UN resolutions encouraging talks over the sovereignty of the islands.

Families of the Argentinian soldiers laid to rest in the cemetery sent letters to the Argentinian foreign minister Hector Timerman and the British ambassador in Buenos Aires demanding an immediate, urgent, and exhaustive investigation.

The vandalism was believed to have happened anytime in the past week or more, said Sebastian Socodo, an Argentinian who takes care of the cemetery. Socodo also noted “It’s basically the glass that covers the Virgin Mary. They just smashed the glass. I don’t know with what or how,” and then said, “I was there a couple of weeks ago and there was no damage.”

Images of the vandalism reveal that the glass was broken by more than twelve forceful blows. The actual statue of the Virgin, whose blue and white colors are the only expression of Argentinian pride that are permitted in the islands, was removed from the cemetery to protect it until repairs can be made to the shrine and to the cemetery.

In response to the vandalism, the Argentine government has called for an “impartial investigation that identifies and punishes those responsible for a grave act that violates the sacredness of the cemetery.” The government has also presented a protest to the International Red Cross as well as the United Nations.

With the controversy over the Falklands, with the Argentine government refusing to recognize the Falklands, blamed Britain for provoking the “barbaric act” with its “hostile attitudes.”

This particular cemetery has been the main focus of attention during this past year’s 30th anniversary of Argentina’s occupation of the islands, but usually the cemetery, atop a hillside about an hour from the capital of Stanley, gets very few visitors.

 

For further information, please see:

Merco Press – Argentina Presents Official Protest to UK Over Malvinas Cemetery Vandalism – 2 August 2012

The Telegraph – Argentina Sends Britain Letter ‘Repudiating’ Desecration of Falklands War Cemetery – 2 August 2012

The Guardian – Argentina’s Falklands War Cemetery Vandalized – 1 August 2012

The Associated Press – Argentine War Cemetery in Falklands Vandalized – 31 July 2012

 

Video Released of Kidnapped Women

By Margaret Janelle Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombia’s second largest insurgent group, the National Liberation Army or ELN released a video today of two women taken hostage last week.  The video depicts Elida Parra Alfonso, a journalist from Radio Sarare, who was kidnapped on 24 July from her home in Saravena Municipality, Arauca Department in northern Colombia and Gina Paola Uribe Villamizar, an environmental engineer, who was kidnapped in the same borough on the same day.

ELN is the second largest insurgent group in Colombia. (Photo courtesy Latin American Herald Tribune)

The ELN initially took credit for the kidnappings on Monday in the form of a message sent to the families of the kidnapped women.

Parra and Uribe do community outreach work for contractors on the Bicentennial Pipeline, or OBC, which – once completed – will transport crude from oil fields in Arauca 600 miles to the Caribbean port of Coveñas, making it the longest pipeline in the country.  Once in operation, the pipeline will transport 125,000 barrels per day.

A consortium made up of Colombia’s state-owned Ecopetrol and seven multinationals is building the OBC, including Canadian firms Pacific Rubiales Energy and Petrominerales.

The building of the OBC has been plagued by protests and acts of violence.  In the middle of last month Colombia’s government planned to deploy 5,000 soldiers to protect the Bicentennial Pipeline.

“We’re not going to be intimidated by terrorists who are trying to sabotage (the pipeline) and who are enemies of these projects,” Mines and Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas said, when he announced the plans for enhanced protection last month. Cardenas was undoubtedly referring to leftist guerrillas who have fought a decades-old armed struggle against a succession of Colombian governments.

In the statement sent to the captives’ families, the ELN also took responsibility for the recent killing of Ricardo Mora, a manager of OBC contractor Sicim, and for a bombing at an oil pumping station.

The ELN vowed to continue its “political-military” action against the oil sector.

“Every megaproject of imperialism, multinationals and the oligarchy are and will be a military objective of the ELN, because they only benefit the capitalist system,” the rebel group said.

The ELN statement did not set forth any demands for the release of Uribe and Parra.

The ELN kidnapped 11 employees of Consorcio Casanare Avanzada, one of the contracting firms on the OBC, for a week earlier this year.

The rebels said in March that they are willing to end their offensive against the oil industry if the government agrees to make some areas off-limits and to levy a $10 per barrel “social tax” on crude production.

Amnesty International is calling for the immediate release of the two women.

For more information, please see:

Amnesty International – DOCUMENT – COLOMBIA: TWO WOMEN MUST BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY – 2 August 2012

The Guardian – Colombia’s ELN guerillas release video of kidnapped women – video – 2 August 2012

Latin American Herald – Colombia Insurgents Admit Kidnapping Pipeline Employees – 2 August 2012

Colombia Reports – Female oil pipeline workers kidnapped in northeastern Colombia – 25 July 2012

Fox News Latino – Colombia to deploy 5,000 soldiers to protect new pipeline – 11 July 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Tuesday 31 July 2012

The Mother of All Transitions Looming!

… But into what exactly? As deadly battles rage on throughout the country, and the international community continues to differ any decision on intervention to some undermined point in a seemingly mythical near future, in the hope that the situation will miraculously work itself out, somehow, while, somehow, producing all the “right” results, Syria’s myriad opposition groups and coalitions are now rushing headlong to form myriad competing transitional governments, each armed with its own detailed transitional plan. Moreover, we now have the Americans and the Germanscompeting to take credit for helping some in the Syrian opposition form a transitional plan in what was supposed to be an exercise wholly-owned by the Syrians! But initial suppositions change, I guess, especially when the Americans and the Germans need to show that they are doing something at a time when they are doing absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, the killing, the pounding of cities, the cold-blooded massacres, continue, unfettered, unabated, unrelenting. Oh, this will be the Mother of All Transitions all right. But again, into what exactly?

Tuesday July 31, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 86. The Breakdown: 24 in Damascus and Suburb, 19 in Aleppo, 13 in Idlib, 11 in Homs, 10 in Deir Ezzor, 7 in Daraa and 1 in Lattakia.

Cities & Towns Under Shelling: Harasta, Arbeen, Moadamiah, Harran Al-Awameed, Ain Terma, Zabadani, Madaya, Eltal, Dmeir, Hameh, Yelda, Rankous, Qarrah (Damascus Suburbs), Sit Zeinab, Al-Qadam, Midan, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Yarmouk, Kafar Sousseh, Mazzeh, Qaboun, Barzeh(Damascus City), Daraa City, Khirbet Al-Ghazaleh, Tafas, Bostra Al-Sham, Na’eemah, Mseifrah, Jimreen, Hraak (Daraa), Rastan, Talbisseh, Houla, Tal Kalakh, Al-Qusayr, Al-Hosn, Al-Ghanto, Al-Bouaydah, Old Homs (Homs Province), Hreitan, Elbab, Eizaz, Marei, Bayanoun (Aleppo Province), Haffeh, Jabal Al-Akrad (Lattakia), Deir Ezzor City, Mouhassan, Albou Kamal (Deir Ezzor Province), Kafar Zeiteh, Hawash, Shahshabo, Hama City (Hama Province), Jabal Al-Zawiyeh, Ma’rrat Al-Nouman, Saraqib, Maar Shoureen, Ariha, Kafroumah, Al-Rami, Khan Shaikhoon (Idlib).

News

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Syria’s Kurds Unite against Assad, but Not with Opposition A sudden political shift among Syria’s three million Kurds, who now control much of the country’s border with Turkey, provides an opportunity for the United States to better coordinate its policy with regional allies and to encourage the Syrian opposition to respect minority rights.

As Syrian War Drags On, Jihadists Take Bigger Role As the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s government grinds on with no resolution in sight, Syrians involved in the armed struggle say it is becoming more radicalized: homegrown Muslim jihadists, as well as small groups of fighters from Al Qaeda, are taking a more prominent role and demanding a say in running the resistance.

Spinmeister Ammar al-Wawi Peddles Upbeat Message of Syrian RebellionAs the Assad regime bombards Aleppo, the rebels are desperate not only to repel the military, but to shore up morale and build outside support. Ammar al-Wawi, the Free Syrian Army’s leading spin doctor, tells Mike Giglio the government is “like the walking dead.”

For besieged Syrian dictator Assad, only exit may be body bag “In his mind he is fighting against the imperialists and their pernicious allies for the people of Syria,” Lesch said. “He believes that’s his legacy. Perhaps that is the way he will want to go down.”

Syria rebels suspicious over defector’s motives Ammar Abdulhamid, a Washington-based Syrian dissident, said that while Tlass could provide valuable information, the opposition on the ground will not accept him as a leader. After so many months of “confrontations and sacrifice,” he said, “legitimate leaders of the transitional period can only rise from the ranks of the internal revolutionary movement.”

In cooperation with Impunity Watch and the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies in Buffalo, it’s my pleasure to announce the launch of the “I Am Syria” Campaign – an effort designed to raise awareness in the U.S. and the world regarding the revolution in Syria and the massacres perpetrated daily by pro-Assad militias and troops, highlighting the need for immediate international action. You can follow our activities on YouTube, Facebook,Twitter and our official website. Please, “Like” us and spread the word…

The Battle for Aleppo City

One of the main factors helping the rebels in their fight for the city so far is the increased number of desertions in Assad armies, while not all deserters are choosing to become defectors at this stage, but clearly, and as reports by locals who came in contact with the deserters and often provided them shelter, soldiers in Assad’s army, especially the Sunnis, are becoming increasingly aware and resentful of their role as fodder. Many are also clearly ill-fed as well as ill-informed about the situation, they don’t believe their commanders, but they don’t enough about the rebels to know if they could trust them. Many just want to go home to their families, or at least they regions.

Scenes from the Battle of Salaheddine: A MIG in actionhttp://youtu.be/Qa9fBOgOW_k The pounding http://youtu.be/x1mHxpbPhec ,http://youtu.be/WYhdp3kuZv0 , http://youtu.be/WYhdp3kuZv0 ,http://youtu.be/mTvHu2OmeEs More MIG action http://youtu.be/gd1zeql4E4o ,http://youtu.be/jtUso_U04zs Al-Jazeerah correspondent is hit during his coverage of the battles http://youtu.be/OpCnO2YtceY At end of the day, the rebels remain in control, as one of their leaders speaking from his headquarters in Salaheddine assures us http://youtu.be/WejTfY-oYVw Impact of shellinghttp://youtu.be/sBbYxgFmFx8 , http://youtu.be/ZnAdHH0Eyfo More scenes from the ballte http://youtu.be/MbDMbu4F1Wk

In order to control Aleppo City, Assad relied heavily on two Sunni clans of smugglers: Al Birri and Al Hmeideh. Today, rebels put an end to the rule of al Birri, killing and capturing many of their senior members including their top leader, Ali Zein Al-Abdeen Birri, shown here http://youtu.be/RJMiMuMUk9I Despite specific instructions from rebel leaders to refrain from summary executions, Ali and few of his commanders were executed http://youtu.be/5Pjk1sYEjuU

In Bab Al-Nayrab Neighborhood, rebels wrest control of the local police station killing everyone inside http://youtu.be/bhSMVXyA8yc The protests we hear at the end is against shooting the dead bodies in order to conserve the dwindling supplies of ammunition. The rebels lose fighters toohttp://youtu.be/gXUzTPMKQ6A Scenes from the battlehttp://youtu.be/9HXasuWYeqg

In Salihein, rebels capture and kill the local police chief, Ali Nasr, who chose to fight to the end, and drag his body in the streets http://youtu.be/V8NLDfHLyeI ,http://youtu.be/cFhbAflScWI Rebels had given the General a chance to give himself up along with his men, but he refused http://youtu.be/4cZCRJdc7QAsome of the soldiers who surrendered himself http://youtu.be/11LAIJF7vN0Rebels celebrate their victory http://youtu.be/kxvyY5tVF74 More scenes from the battle http://youtu.be/Yt3BJlZQgjY The battle started at dawnhttp://youtu.be/gXSN1q-GEbg

In Marjeh, rebels battle to “liberate” the local police stationhttp://youtu.be/WrjmsJuo1h0 , http://youtu.be/PuXlUCuVVQA

The police station in Hanano, after “liberation” http://youtu.be/IOA7ItCz3uE ,http://youtu.be/6yEzU5r8ACk , http://youtu.be/kALkZkME5HY One of the torture devices used in Hanano station http://youtu.be/17UBC-bU1NA

On July 30, head of the Aleppo Military Council, Abdul Jabbar Okaidi, toured parts of the liberated neighborhoods, Al-Shar Neighborhood, and was warmly welcomed by then local inhabitants http://youtu.be/94FIRFDvc2U ,http://youtu.be/Iy_tmXm8llE , http://youtu.be/HdYecOBc-r4 Un Monitors also paid a visit to the city and met leaders of Al-Tawhid Brigadehttp://youtu.be/__OIWNtAOJM

Other neighborhood in Aleppo city remain under the control of pro-Assad troops and militias http://youtu.be/VRVX5kiTRiQ , http://youtu.be/clhXH9KNyzw

While Aleppo City and the Rural areas to the North have come under rebel control for the most part, the regrouping process to the south continues, with the formation of a new brigade http://youtu.be/gMpU7bzIcII But more units are formed in the north as well http://youtu.be/FXO7Hj1pdq4

Other Highlights

In Damascus Suburbs, the pounding of Eastern Ghoutah Region continues:Harasta http://youtu.be/wguKbLnQGE8 tanks and helicopter gunships subject the suburb of Zamalka to heavy pounding http://youtu.be/W6xiJtVsQAA The dead line the streets http://youtu.be/2ZKXlPc5RxE , http://youtu.be/aZnTn8fb9nsSaving the injured http://youtu.be/qUulgHgTA9M In nearby Yelda, the pounding claims more lives (July 30) http://youtu.be/xVKhGfecLYw In harasta, People inEastern Ghoutah keep regrouping as they welcome more defectorshttp://youtu.be/AIFVFRNcPBY In Ain Terma, rebels fight backhttp://youtu.be/lDBkSpqvrw4 and destroy a tank http://youtu.be/a6kyiQusz_k ,http://youtu.be/smlRmHtBQAA

In Yabroud to the north, flood gave people a respite from the shellinghttp://youtu.be/6YcAJK12vy0

In Damascus City, another massacre uncovered in Al-Hajar Al-Aswadhttp://youtu.be/UuVe9hWLoRM

Sheikh Miskeen, Daraa Province: mew massacre (July 30)http://youtu.be/tAmDQIDKVms , http://youtu.be/dVkJnQWDAOk Locals say the people were burnt alive http://youtu.be/d7Pbhz-wLQ0

In Daraa City, we can see pro-Assad troops as they remove the bodies of the dead and injured from a car they hit and take them away on board their tankhttp://youtu.be/lLR_Uy0owtQ The continuous pounding of Daraa City claims more lives http://youtu.be/vAVAmswAAQQ

The pounding of Talbisseh, Homs Province, continues http://youtu.be/LPakyV-Q_Mw , http://youtu.be/sq7KZKodRwY Locals keep finding bodies in the nearby fields http://youtu.be/tPJFXa73tjM The pounding of Old Neighborhoods in Homs City continues http://youtu.be/zTkAnhgd96g In Qusayr, people the spirit of defiance alive, despite the continuing siege and poundinghttp://youtu.be/0DQJexoEKR0

The pounding of Ghneimiyeh Village in Lattakia http://youtu.be/wF68fiM2xVIAkko http://youtu.be/aoHmyxfN5ag

In Deir Ezzor Province, the pounding of the town of Mayadeen continueshttp://youtu.be/xjq73cNBRLk , http://youtu.be/jNTZyRzqfJM But defections keep plaguing Assad troops, as more of them form a new rebel unithttp://youtu.be/S0bHufMbJso Scenes from a local battlehttp://youtu.be/OKxXvCCJ2RA , http://youtu.be/xc9Dw5UOeVo

Russian Government Facilitates Lobbying by Convicted Criminal Klyuev Against Magnitsky Sanctions at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Monaco

Press Release

8 July 2012 – Dmitry Klyuev, convicted in 2006 for a $1.6 billion attempted fraud, and lawyer Andrey Pavlov, who were shown to be central to $800 million of successive frauds against the Russian treasury uncovered by the late Sergei Magnitsky, both attended the OSCE parliamentary assembly in Monaco today in order to lobby against the Magnitsky sanctions. Their participation was facilitated by members of the official Russian delegation.

In order to gain access to the OSCE parliamentary assembly facilities, two members of the Russian delegation gave their badges and escorted Klyuev and Pavlov to the OSCE Convention Center at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The Russian officials helping Klyuev and Pavlov’s attendance at the OSCE assembly were Gleb Reshetnikov, secretary of the Russian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (gleb@duma.gov.ru), and Ilya Kostunov, a deputy of the Russian Duma (http://www.duma.gov.ru/structure/deputies/131106/).

Gleb Reshetnikov (L) and Ilya Kostunov (R) helped Klyuev gain access to the OSCE parliamentary assembly.

“It is remarkable that Russian officials would advocate for convicted felon and his partner shown to have stolen $800 million from Russian people and involved in crimes that Sergei Magnitsky discovered for the exposure of which he was killed,” said a Hermitage representative.

Russian Duma deputy Ilya Kostunov who assisted Klyuev and Pavlov in Monaco is a former activist of Nashi youth movement, which is an organisation involved in attacks on Russian opposition figures and foreign diplomats. Most recently, in June 2012, Ilya Kostunov initiated an attack on Alexei Navalny, a prominent Russian blogger, over his anti-corruption work.

The details of the serial $800 million thefts and role played by Klyuev, Pavlov and his associates were revealed last month in “The Magnitsky Files,” an 18-minute movie shown in Washington by U.S. Senator John McChain and Freedom House David Kramer, and which is now available on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL9b5LP4Ubc)/.)  Over 280,000 Russians have watched it in the first week since its release.  The movie shows a pattern of joint trips by Russian government officials, Klyuev and Pavlov to Dubai, United Kingdom, and Cyprus after various crimes were committed.

Summarising the links between Russian government officials, Klyuev and his associates, U.S. Senator John McCain called on President Obama to proscribe the Klyuev group as a “transnational criminal organisation” and introduce targeted economic sanctions.

“Public information, much of it uncovered by Mr. Magnitsky himself before his arrest in Russia in 2008, suggests that the Klyuev Group has colluded with senior Russian officials to engage in bribery, fraud, embezzlement, company thefts, and other serious financial crimes…Activities of the Klyuev Group appear to put the U.S. and international financial systems at serious risk of abuse,” said Senator McCain (http://www.scribd.com/doc/98337177/Untitled).

“I write to you today to request that you begin a process to determine whether to designate and impose sanctions, under the Executive Order 13581, against a dangerous transnational criminal organization known as the “Klyuev Group,” said Senator McCain in the letter.

Sergei Magnitsky, a 37-year old Russian lawyer who was investigating the money laundering by the KOCG, was falsely arrested, tortured and killed in police custody two and a half years ago. His killers have not been brought to justice in Russia.

The theatrics of swapping badges with the government officials for Klyuev and Pavlov to get access to the OSCE Parliamentary assembly was unnecessary. According to the communications director for OSCE PA Neil Simon:

“The annual session is open to the press and the public.”

 

For further information please contact:

Hermitage Capital

Phone:             +44 207 440 17 77
E-mail:             info@lawandorderinrussia.org
Website:          http://lawandorderinrussia.org
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Press Contact for OSCE PA:

Neil Simon
Director of Communications
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
+45 60 10 83 80
neil@oscepa.dk
www.oscepa.org